Pringle’s Potato Chips December 30, 2011

When I was growing up, my best friend Lisa was the one who always had the cool stuff. Her mom always made delicious, cheesy dinners (pizza on Fridays), and this delicacy called broiled flank steak. They had vitamins on the table and served Tang, the astronaut juice beverage.

Perhaps the most wondrous thing they had, however, was a newfangled potato chip called Pringles.

Pringles weren’t like ordinary chips. They came in a can, not a bag. They resealed. They were light and stackable. And they were delicious.

I have preferred these tasty morsels for years now, staying true to the red can version, not the gross flavored one. I am a Pringles purist.

One time, I was picking up a kid at school, and had brought along my friend Pringles. I was enjoying them all by myself, when a lady in the car next to me honked her horn. When I glanced over, she held up her own Pringles can. We smiled at each other, in a moment of freeze-dried potato crumb solidarity.

Popcorn, Indiana December 12, 2011

Could there be any more magical place to live than Popcorn, Indiana? There, little children pick bouquets of cinnamon-drizzled kettle corn, and walk down a cheddar ranch popcorn path to the crunchiest homes in the world. 

But I digress. 

If you haven’t tried this stuff yet, seriously, you need to. I discovered this product earlier this year, when it was available in sample size packages in my local Walgreen’s. This popcorn is truly the best new product that I have ever tried. The kettle-cooked popcorn is sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and then drizzled with a white candy coating – i think it’s white chocolate. It is scrumptious.

The popcorn spawned a county-wide search for any remaining sample bags, and several emails to the home office. The popcorn would be re-launched in the fall. 

I went to their Facebook page in November, and some lucky people had already found the popcorn again. I had no luck until I went to Walgreens again, and it was tucked away high on a shelf. I bought ten bags. I unfortunately have not got tired of it, and I am reluctant to even talk about how good it is, because I don’t want to create a shortage. Seriously. Buy. this. popcorn.

Introduction December 11, 2011

Like most of us, I have read product reviews on the Web and thought, “Hey, I have opinions!” I have been shopping nearly all my life, ever since I took my weekly allowance up to the corner convenience store to see what new candy they had.

OK, not just new candy – any candy. It was then that I discovered the magic that is Heath bars. I stayed away from Heath bars for awhile, mainly because I did not know what toffee was.

Then my friend Lisa gave me one from her father’s secret stash – he ate Heath bars because they did not contain peanuts, something he was highly allergic to.

O. M. G. A Heath bar doesn’t look like much – two thin rectangular blocks of unadorned chocolate. But it is the inside that is truly where Heath earns its street cred. The toffee is a simple, yet delicious mixture of butter, brown sugar, vanilla and almonds, and it is crunchified. When the toffee is juxtaposed next to the creamy smooth decadence of the chocolate coating, all I can say is Mmmmm.

There are two ways to eat a Heath. In one, you scrape all the chocolate off with your teeth, and eat that separate from the toffee. In the other, you just pop it into your mouth (one or two bites? it’s up to you). Either way, you can’t go wrong with this little chunk of heaven.